Starved: A Nutrition Doctor's Journey from Empty to Full

by Anne McTiernan

Overview

"Failure to thrive" is not a phrase in this doctor's vocabulary.

At the age of four, Anne McTiernan is left by her mother at a boarding school. Overcome by sadness from the neglect she experiences there, Anne emotionally and physically starves. A doctor, appalled by her excessive weight loss, forces Anne’s mother to bring her home, but she is still not safe.

Set in working-class, Irish-American Boston of the 1950s–1960s, Anne transitions from a malnourished state to obesity to obsessive dieting. Without love and support from her family, Anne decides she must take full responsibility for her own life during her last eighteen months as a minor.

Today as a doctor and researcher, Anne has helped thousands of women improve their relationship with food—but this is not their story. Starved is the gripping tale of how Anne used hard work, undaunted intelligence, and persistence to turn the adversity she encountered as a child into a strength and set of skills that would later help her meet the demands of her career.

ANNE McTIERNAN, MD, PhD, conducts research on the effects of diet, exercise, and weight loss on cancer and health. Currently, she is a professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington Schools of Public Health and Medicine in Seattle, Washington.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781942094296
Publisher:	Central Recovery Press, LLC
Publication date:	10/17/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD, is a physician who conducts research on the effects of diet, exercise, and weight loss on cancer and health. Currently she is a professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington Schools of Public Health and Medicine in Seattle, Washington. She earned her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Washington in 1982 and MD in internal medicine at New York Medical College in 1989. She is an elected Fellow in The Obesity Society and the American College of Sports Medicine. Dr. McTiernan has authored over 350 scientific articles in medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, Cancer Research, and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. She has received several honors over her career, including an American College of Sports Medicine Citation Award in 2012, the University of Washington Roger E. Moe Award for Translational Research in 2009, and The Joan P. Liman MD Award, New York Medical College, 1989. She was honored as a Komen Scholar from 2010–2013.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 Starving 3

Chapter 2 Fattening Up 27

Chapter 3 Crumbs 45

Chapter 4 Changing the Menu 65

Chapter 5 Binging 81

Chapter 6 Irish Stew 97

Chapter 7 Just a Taste 119

Chapter 8 The Doughnut Shop 135

Chapter 9 Easter Treat 153

Chapter 10 Thanksgiving Famine 165

Chapter 11 Icing on the Cake 173

Chapter 12 Purging 189

Chapter 13 Hungry for Love 197

Chapter 14 Sugar and Spice 207

Chapter 15 Power Hungry 219

Chapter 16 Extra Virgin 229

Chapter 17 Meatloaf 245

Chapter 18 Bearing Fruit 255

Chapter 19 Full 259

Epilogue 279

Editorial Reviews

Anne McTiernan has written a gripping, deeply personal memoir that often reads like some of the best dramatic fiction out there. Starved is both a search for understanding the complications of family and a parallel exploration of our relationship with food, as either nurturer or torturer. Anne’s history as a young girl growing up in 1950s Boston and her drive to both heal herself and break free from a toxic relationship is framed through both the eye of the clinical researcher and the heart of great author in this fantastically well-written, rich memoir bursting with intelligence and hope. An absolute achievement.”—DOMINGO MARTINEZ, the New York Times best-selling author of The Boy Kings of Texas and 2012 National Book Award in Non-Fiction Finalist

“As a leading obesity researcher, Anne McTiernan has conducted some of the most groundbreaking studies on nutrition, exercise, and health. But in this book, she provides extraordinary insight into her own personal struggles with food. It’s an emotional and gripping life story, and one that anyone who has ever had a strained relationship with food—which is most of us—can find solace in.”—ANAHAD O'CONNOR, Bestselling author and health writer for the New York Times

“Starved is an absorbing, and sometimes shattering, primer on abuse and resilience. Anne McTiernan mines her past to bring up the painful, real details that make this memoir sing—even as it breaks our hearts.”—CLAIRE DEDERER, the New York Times best-selling author of Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses

“A heartbreaking and inspiring story of a young girl who faces neglect and punishment by her family and church but survives through sheer will and goodness—and intelligence.”—MIRIAM E. NELSON, PhD, Professor and author of the international bestseller Strong Women Stay Young

“McTiernan's absorbing memoir details her early abandonment and troubled relationship with family and food, and readers will cheer as she completes her difficult journey to self-acceptance.”—STEPHANIE CLIFFORD, the New York Times best-selling author of Everybody Rise

“Dr. McTiernan's remarkable life story is a testament to the power of human resilience and the determination to do good. Instead of spending her life seeking vengeance for the abuse and hardship she endured as a child, this inspirational physician has dedicated her adult life to helping people and improving their lives. I am in greater awe than ever over her enormous accomplishments.”—JOANN E. MANSON, MD, DrPH, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

“Anne McTiernan is a master storyteller who writes with great wit and insight. If you grew up without the support you needed to survive and yet somehow still thrived, you will likely see yourself in her story. But no matter how you grew up, you will find yourself rooting for her.”—THEO PAULINE NESTOR, Author of Writing Is My Drink

From the Publisher